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Involvement of anion exchanger-2 in apoptosis of endothelial cells induced by high glucose through an mPTP-ROS-Caspase-3 dependent pathway

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Abstract

Excess apoptosis of endothelial cells (EC) plays crucial roles in the onset and progression of vasculopathy in diabetes mellitus. Anion exchanger-2 (AE2) might be involved in the vasculopathy. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that AE2 mediated the apoptosis of EC. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of AE2 in the apoptosis of HUVECs induced by high glucose (HG) and its possible mechanisms. First, HUVECs were exposed to different glucose concentrations (5.5, 17.8, 35.6, 71.2 and 142.4 mmol/l, respectively, pH = 7.40) for different time points (12, 24, 48, 72, 120, and 168 h, respectively). Intracellular Cl− concentration ([Cl−]i), AE2 expression and the apoptosis were assayed. Then, 4,4′-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (DIDS), Cl−-free media or specific RNA interference (RNAi) for AE2 was used to confirm whether AE2 could mediate the apoptosis induced by HG. Finally, the mechanisms of the AE2-mediated apoptosis were investigated by detecting mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP, ΔΨm) openings, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and Caspase-3 activity. We found that HG upregulated the AE2 expression and activity, increased [Cl−]i and induced the apoptosis in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The apoptosis of HUVECs by HG was possibly mediated by AE2 through an mPTP-ROS-Caspase-3 dependent pathway. These findings suggested that AE2 was likely to be a glucose-sensitive transmembrane transporter and a novel potential therapeutic target for diabetic vasculopathy.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Natural Scientific Foundation of China (No. 30660058 and No. 30860111). We thank Dr. Huixin Deng, Xuan Jin, Shiwen Luo and Gregory D. Jensen for generous help in correcting the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key State Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University, 330047, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China

    Qi-Ren Huang, Wei-Jie Peng & Ming He

  2. Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Therapeutics, Nanchang University School of Pharmaceutical Science, 330006, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China

    Qi-Ren Huang, Qing Li, Yuan-Hong Chen, Li Li, Li-Li Liu, He-Ping Chen, Wei-Jie Peng & Ming He

  3. Department of Endocrinological and Metabolic Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, 330006, Nanchang, People’s Republic of China

    Shui-Hong Lei

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  1. Qi-Ren Huang
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Correspondence to Ming He.

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Qing Li, Yuan-Hong Chen and Li Li are equally contributed to this article.

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Huang, QR., Li, Q., Chen, YH. et al. Involvement of anion exchanger-2 in apoptosis of endothelial cells induced by high glucose through an mPTP-ROS-Caspase-3 dependent pathway. Apoptosis 15, 693–704 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10495-010-0477-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10495-010-0477-9

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